Very.co.uk - God awful company.

thedalmeny

I ordered a laptop (Lenovo) from Very.co.uk recently.

It arrived faulty, screen was flickering… No big worry, I’ll return it to the retail for a replacement or refund… Those good old consumer rights come in handy…

Not so simple..

Upon ringing they asked me to ring Lenovo. Slightly puzzled I asked why and insist they simply replace the faulty item, as they’re obliged to do so. They refused until I had a reference code from Lenovo. After a quite heated argument, then an email to Very they again refused.. Despite my contract being with them, not the manufacturer (Sales of Goods Act)

So I ring Lenovo.. What I found out from the agent is they’re actually forcing customers to get the DOA reference from the manufacturer first, allowing Very to credit back for the faulty item..

Essentially, they’re getting customers to do the leg work of contacting Lenovo, scanning and emailing proof of purchase and waiting for the DOA code. So Very don't have to do it themselves when the returned item arrives back.

I think it takes the mick that they're getting the customers to do their job.

I've bought an item from them, it's arrives faulty, i expect them to sort out the issue. I do not expect to have to run around contacting the manufacturer to get a code for them to do it..

They should, like other retailers... Take back the faulty goods and sort out with their supplier the return to manufacturer..

I've spent several thousand pounds with Very over the years, this last order i did was £1300 alone... I won't be spending a penny with that company again.

What frustrates me most is customer agents ignored me, one even hung up. After countless times trying to explain to them my contract of sale is with them, not the manufacturer as per the sales of goods act. Repeatedly i was told i was wrong, despite pointing them towards Which or any other consumer site who points this very clear fact out.

This company seems to take great pleasure in either not training the staff in consumer rights or just point blank denying them.

thedalmeny

Reported to Citizens Advice Bureau.

They're passing on the details to Trading Standards.

Quite amusing that they agree with me, it is upto Very to sort out the issue and not me to go contacting the manufacturer Lenovo. They also stating the Sales of Goods Act supports this.

What a joke of a company.

thedalmeny

Spoke to Very to inform them i had contacted Citizens Advice...

Low and below, now willing to accept a return without a code from Lenovo...

I've decided to wait for the DOA number from Lenovo, as the women is now stating if it arrives not faulty to them they can return it to me and charge me.

Frankly i want no further dealings with them, so despite having an obviously flickering screen i don't want to run any form of risk.

What is also assuming is she stated their terms were still in line with the Sales of Goods Act - yet didn't even know the basic contents of the act when i explained to her why it wasn't...

wealdroam

You say recently, but when exactly did you receive the laptop?

It is possible to cancel an order without any reason under Distance Selling Regulations for a full refund.
You must cancel within seven working days of delivery, starting with the day after delivery.

But you seem to be making progress, so keep the DSRs as a second line of defence.

thistledome

Exactly the same thing happened to me OP, a couple of years ago with an Acer PC. I called the Acer help number several times and went through the usual useless rigmarole of trying various things, with the "help" of their foreign call centre employee.

I eventually drew the line at Acer telling me I had to package the whole thing up in 5 thicknesses of bubble wrap and send it to their UK repair centre!

I had the same SOGA argument with Very's drone-like call centre employee, but I finally got them to come and pick the thing up for a refund.

I promised myself I'd never buy another thing from Very OR Acer again and I haven't. Like you, I'd bought a lot of stuff from over the years. No doubt they couldn't care less, there's plenty of other mug punters out there!

Good luck with it.

PS
I agree with the other poster who mentioned the distance selling regs. I wish I'd have done that myself instead of playing along with their B.S.

frugal_mike

The only downside to the DSR's is that you may be responsible for the return postage (depending on whether or not they informed you of this in durable means after purchase). With the Sale of Goods Act they are responsible.